The Crucifixion with a Carthusian Monk (1460): Art, History and Details

The Crucifixion with a Carthusian Monk (1460) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Rogier van der Weyden (Flemish, c. 1399–1464).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This painting shows a Carthusian monk kneeling in devotion and prayer before the Crucifixion. It is likely that this panel was intended for the cell of a monk in an unknown monastery. The Carthusians were particularly devoted to the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ, and devotional images were provided for each monk’s cell. The Carthusian order was founded by Saint Bruno in 1084 with the purpose of providing the strictest separation from the world. The first Carthusians were dedicated to contemplation through silence, prayer, poverty, penance, and almost continuous occupancy of a solitary cell. The solitary life could only be maintained through the establishment of separate cell houses. Each community of monks was limited to the apostolic number of 12, though exceptions were sometimes made. They were recognized by their white, full-length, cowled habit called the scapular, shown here. The artist has not been identified.

Object facts

• Title: The Crucifixion with a Carthusian Monk
• Date: 1460
• Creator attribution: Rogier van der Weyden (Flemish, c. 1399–1464)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil and gold on wood
• Dimensions: Image: 37.1 x 27.3 cm (14 5/8 x 10 3/4 in.); Framed: 57.5 x 48 x 7 cm (22 5/8 x 18 7/8 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 38.4 x 29.2 cm (15 1/8 x 11 1/2 in.)
• Collection: MED - Medieval Art
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1931.449

A detail from the museum

Carthusian monks can easily be identified by the white scapular or large rectangular piece of fabric, which is joined by bands at the side and has a hood attached to it.

Collection credit

Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds

Further reading listed by the museum

• Destrée, Jules. Roger de La Pasture van der Weyden. Paris: G. van Oest, 1930.
• Francis, Henry S. "A Flemish Panel of the Crucifixion." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 19, no. 1 (1932)
• "Cleveland Gets XVth Century Crucifixion," Art Digest vol. 6 (Jan. 15, 1932).

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.